DE29712356U1 - Electrical, rotatable plug connection - Google Patents

Description

FÖPE-02gDE

02 July 1997

-1-DESCRIPTION

Electrical, rotating connector TECHNICAL AREA

The invention relates to an electrical plug connection between two bodies. When plugged into one another, the electrically conductive connection between the two bodies is established. The electrical connection can be interrupted by pulling the two bodies apart. When plugged into one another, the two bodies can rotate relative to one another.

STATE OF THE ART

An electrical plug connection of the type mentioned above is known in connection with a camera device. Such a camera device can be used to monitor buildings or building surroundings. Such camera devices can also be used indoors.

With this previously known camera device, the camera can be adjusted around two main axes. Around one main axis, the camera can be rotated back and forth by more than 3 60 degrees. Around the other main axis, the camera can be tilted back and forth by more than 180 degrees. The two adjustment movements of the camera are carried out by two separate 0 electric drives. The electrical power transmission for these adjustments is carried out via sliding contacts. The disadvantage is the bulky design.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Based on this prior art, the invention is based on the object of specifying a possibility for producing a particularly very small electrical plug connection of the type mentioned at the beginning as well as a very small camera device.

This invention is given by the features of claim 1. The nested design of the two bodies, one of which contains sliding contact springs that interact with slip rings that are formed in the other body, makes an extremely space-saving design possible. The outer body, which serves as a sliding contact carrier, carries the electrical consumer. This electrical consumer can be a motor on which another electrical consumer is tiltably mounted. This other electrical consumer can be a camera. This camera can then be rotated in connection with the outer body and can also be tilted using the tilt motor.

The sliding contact carrier can be removed from the inner body that carries the slip rings and reattached easily, simply and quickly - for example by simply pulling it off. This makes it easy and quick to attach any electrical device attached to the outer body. The electrical wiring of the black and white or color camera, for example, and the motor that tilts the camera back and forth can be firmly attached to the sliding contact carrier. Electrical connections then do not have to be removed and rearranged.

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The rotatability of the sliding contact carrier and thus also of the camera, for example, can be made possible in a simple structural manner by providing a shaft that can rotate within the first body. This shaft can be connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the motor shaft of the motor that causes the rotation and to the second body, the sliding contact carrier, on the one hand. It is also possible to connect the second body, the sliding contact carrier, in a rotationally fixed manner to the first motor via an external gear transmission. In the latter case, the motor will generally be positioned eccentrically to the rotor axis, for example in a base arranged at the head. There is then still space in the base to accommodate an intercom system, for example.

This arrangement, which contains a microphone and a loudspeaker, can receive and also output acoustic signals. Such an intercom device can then be used to establish voice contact between a person located at the camera device and another person located at the "end" of the electrical connection line. Acoustic signals that are picked up by the microphone can also be used to switch on the camera and thus to start, for example, non-continuous monitoring. In addition or alternatively, sensors can also be housed in the base that can be designed to record optical and/or acoustic ambient stimulus signals. These sensors can then be used, for example, to switch on the camera or to adjust and align the camera in the direction of the received signals.

On the one hand, to protect the camera and the structural parts that hold it, the motor(s) and the rotating or tilting parts can be enclosed in a housing. If a camera is used as

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If the camera is intended for use as an electrical consumer, the housing is optically transparent to the camera, at least in the surface areas that are in the extension of the optical axis of the camera. For example, in the case of a camera that works in the infrared spectrum, the housing can then be opaque to the human eye. This means that a camera can be hidden in a glass sphere that is opaque to humans. Due to its small size, this sphere can be less than 80 millimeters in diameter.

10 in size.

According to another very important development of the invention, the housing is designed to be waterproof. This means that this glass ball, for example, can also be used underwater for observation or monitoring.

The sliding contact springs are arranged eccentrically to the slip rings according to an embodiment shown in more detail in the drawing. As a result, the sliding contact springs only touch the slip rings in places. The contact pressure and the spring travel of the sliding contact spring can be set precisely in this way. The spring travel is important because, according to an embodiment shown in more detail in an embodiment, the sliding contact carrier can be arranged sufficiently firmly on the inner body by simply pushing it onto the inner body carrying the slip rings. This holding force is ensured by the sliding contact springs. In another design variant 0, the sliding contact springs can also be located within grooves formed in the slip rings so that they are held sufficiently firmly in place in the direction in which the sliding contact carrier is pulled off. In all design variants, for example, they only touch the slip rings with their end areas so that a defined pressing force can be ensured.

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Further advantages and features of the invention result from the features further listed in the claims and from the following embodiments.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention is described and explained in more detail using the embodiments shown in the drawing in connection with a camera device. Shown are: 10

Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned view of a camera device according to the invention with a switching device for adjusting the camera,

Fig. 2 a longitudinal section through the sliding contact construction of this camera device according to the invention,

Fig. 3 a cross-section through the sliding contact construction according to Fig. 2,
20

Fig. 4 a cross section through another sliding contact construction according to the invention and

Fig. 5 another camera device with intercom device and switch-on sensor.

WAYS TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION

A camera device 10 shown in Fig. 1 has a housing 12 which consists of an optically transparent glass ball 14 which is fastened in a base 18 via a molded flange 16 with a circular cross section.

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An electrical supply line 20, to which a control unit 22 is connected, leads into the base 18. The control unit 22 has four buttons 24, 26, 28, 30. Of these four buttons, two opposite buttons 24, 26 are for tilting a camera 32 located inside the glass ball 14 around a tilt axis 34. The other two opposite buttons 28, 30 allow the camera 32 to rotate freely back and forth around a rotation axis 36 - vertical in the drawing - even over 360 degrees, as will be described further below.

The base 18 has a base plate 40 which is integrally connected to a surrounding wall 42. On the inside of this wall 42, the flange 16 of the glass ball 14 is kept watertight by means of a sealing compound 44.

This makes the entire housing 12 waterproof.

The flange 16 of the glass ball 14 laterally encloses an interior space 46, which is delimited at the top in the drawing by the base plate 40 and on the other side by an inner base cover 48. In this interior space there is a motor Ml, which is connected to the supply line 20. The camera 32 can be moved back and forth about the rotation axis 36 via this motor Ml, as will be explained in more detail below.

In the interior 50 of the glass ball 14, an inner, rod-shaped body 52 (Fig. 2) is firmly attached to the base cover 48. This inner body 52 is surrounded by - in the present example - five slip rings 54, which are arranged at a distance above one another, separated by insulation. In the present case, the slip rings 54 lie in ring grooves 56 that are adapted to their size. However,

35

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It is also possible to form the gaps 58 between adjacent ring grooves 56 as insulating bodies in the form of ring disks. The slip rings 54 would then be spaced apart from one another by these insulating ring disks. In the present case, the slip rings have a round cross-section. They can preferably also have a rectangular cross-section with, for example, a semicircular groove formed in the outer cross-section side. All of these slip rings 54 are connected to the supply line 20 via an electrical line 60 that passes through the inner body 52.

The inner body 52 is surrounded by a sleeve-shaped outer body 66, which serves as a so-called sliding contact carrier.

In this outer body 66, five grooves 70 are also formed corresponding to the number of slip rings 54. These grooves 70 are arranged eccentrically to the longitudinal axis 68 of the body 66. This longitudinal axis 68 also forms the axis of rotation for the camera 32.

A sliding contact spring 72 is located in each of these eccentric and thus differently deep grooves 70. The contact spring 72 can be seated in a locking manner in a groove formed on the outside circumference of the slip ring, for example a semicircular groove, when plugged together.

Each sliding contact spring 72 has an outwardly bent upturn 78, 80 in its end regions 74, 76. With these regions of its upturns 78, 80, the sliding contact spring 72 bears against the respective slip ring 54, if necessary in its molded groove, exerting sufficient pressure.

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The contact pressure of the sliding contact spring 72 on the slip ring 54 creates a sufficiently firm hold between the outer body 66 and the inner body 52. As a result, the outer body 66 can be attached to the inner body 52 so firmly by simply sliding it onto the inner body 52 that the other structural parts attached to the outer body, as will be described further below, are durably attached to the inner body 52 and thus to the base 18.

In the present example, each sliding contact spring 72 rests on two end regions 74, 76 defined by the bends on a slip ring 54, regardless of the rotational position of the outer body 66 with respect to the inner body 52.

The rotation of the outer body 66 is ensured by a square 82 which is seated in a square cross-section recess 84 in the front wall 86 of the outer body 66 in a rotationally fixed manner. The square 82 forms the lower tip of a rotation shaft 88 which in turn is rotationally fixedly attached to the rotation shaft of the motor M1. The axis of the rotation shaft 88 thus forms the rotation axis 36 of the camera 32 (Fig. 1).

An angle piece 90 is attached to the front wall 86 of the outer body 66. This angle piece 90 carries another electric motor M2, by means of which the camera 32 can be tilted around the tilt axis 34 - in this case perpendicular to the rotation axis 36. The various tilt positions are shown in dash-dotted lines in Fig. 1. In the present example, this tilting movement of around 270 degrees, which is possible due to the presence of the outer

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02 July 1997

Body 66 is limited, in the interior of the glass ball 14 having a maximum diameter of 78 millimeters, in addition to the arbitrarily large rotational movement.

The tilt motor M2 is connected to two of the five slip rings 54 via a connecting line 92. The remaining three slip rings 54 are connected to the camera or the circuit board on which the optical lens of the camera 32 is placed via another connecting line 94. These two connecting lines 92, 94 rotate together with the outer body 66 so that they do not hinder the rotational movement. Since the two connecting lines 92, 94 are present on the back of the camera eye, they also do not hinder the tilting movement of the camera 32.

The camera 32, i.e. the circuit board on which the optical lens is located, tilts about the tilt axis 34 and is connected to the supply line 20 via the connecting line 94 with three sliding contact springs 72 and thus also with three slip rings 54 and the electrical line 60.

By pressing the two buttons 24, 26 via the control unit 22, the camera 32 can be tilted in one direction or the other around the tilt axis 34. By pressing the other two buttons 28, 30, the camera and thus the outer body 66 can be swiveled as far as desired in one direction or the other around the rotation axis 36. 30

The eccentric grooves 70 incorporated in the outer body 66 result in only one sickle-shaped remaining cross-sectional area 66.1 (Fig. 3) being present in this cross-sectional area. The remaining cross-sectional area is excluded from the groove 70. These sickle-shaped cross-sectional areas

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Cutting areas 66.1 cause a weakening of the cross-section of the body 66. The resulting bending softness in the direction of its longitudinal axis 68 is significantly reduced in the embodiment according to Fig. 4.

The cross-sectional area for the body 66.2 shown in Fig. 4 has an approximately triangular shape in the area of its grooves 70.2. Instead of the crescent-shaped cross-sectional area 66.1, parts of the outer body, in this case the body 66.2, are now present in each cross-sectional quadrant. The body 66.2 therefore has increased flexural rigidity in the direction of its longitudinal axis 68. As a result, the body 66 cannot spread apart due to bending, so that the sliding contact springs 72 and 72.2 always lie firmly and immovably against the slip rings 54.

In the illustration according to Fig. 4, the outer body 66.2 has a bulge 100 in the middle area of the sliding contact springs 72.2, into which a sliding contact spring 72.2 engages with a bulge 102. The sliding contact spring 72.2 is thus held extremely securely against rotation in the outer body 66. In contrast to the illustration according to Fig. 3, the inner body 52.2 has several electrical lines 60 with which the individual slip rings 54 are electrically connected.

In the illustration according to Fig. 5, an external gear ring 112 is used in the camera device 10.5 shown there for the rotational connection of the outer body 66.5, which is attached to the outside of the outer body 66.5. This gear ring 112 meshes with a gear 114. This gear 114 is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the rotation axis 116 of a motor M1 located off-center in the interior 46 of the base 18. In the interior 46 there is therefore space for a loudspeaker 120 and a microphone 122. These parts of an intercom

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system allows a person standing next to the camera device 10.5 to talk to another person standing "at the end" of the supply line 20. The camera 32 could also be switched on and thus put into operation via the loudspeaker 120 if appropriate acoustic stimulus signals are received.

In the interior 46 there is also a sensor in the form of an infrared sensor 130. Movements can be registered via this sensor 130 and, for example, the camera 32 can be switched on. If there are several sensors, not only could the camera be switched on but also, for example, aligned so that the camera 32 would be aligned in the direction of the stimuli received.

In its general application, the above camera device can be used for all types of surveillance, including underwater or in places that are prone to dirt, for example, due to its particularly small construction. The camera eye, which can be moved in any direction, could also be used, for example, to view the inside walls of canals. The above camera device is ideal not only for external surveillance of gardens, yards and houses, but also for surveillance of interior spaces, for example the interior of amusement arcades and other often very confusing spaces. In its design with a glass ball, it can be arranged as a type of party light together with "normal" party lights and thus not be recognized as a camera device by strangers.

With the sliding contact design described above, a rotating signal transmission in the speed range between approximately zero and 100 revolutions per minute with

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can be technically implemented using any number of miniaturized components. The rotatable, detachable plug connection can therefore not only be used to connect a rotatable and tiltable camera device, but also for other applications.

The tilt motor M2 is preferably equipped with an adjustable spring ball coupling. The coupling serves to limit the blocking current of the motor M2 in the respective stop case of this tilt motor M2.

For continuous rotation or tilting movements, brushless motors are preferable due to wear and tear. Such brushless motors can be easily switched in both directions of movement, for example as follows: the switching is effected for the ON-OFF switch by a current surge from a bistable relay with two changeover contacts, which swap two phases of what are essentially small DC motors.

As can be seen from the above, the camera or other electrical consumer does not necessarily have to be designed to be tiltable. The tilt motor (M2) shown in the example could be omitted and a rigid or manually adjustable tilting device could be provided in addition to the rotating device.

Claims (1)

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EXPECTATIONS 01) Electrical connection of two bodies, which again are designed to be detachably plugged into one another, of which an electrical consumer can be connected to one body and an electrical supply line to the other body, and both bodies are designed to be rotatable relative to one another, characterized in that - a first, rod-shaped body (52) is surrounded by several, spaced-apart slip rings (54), - the slip rings (54) can be connected to the electrical supply line (60), - a second, sleeve-shaped body (66) has a plurality of spaced-apart, circumferentially at least partially circumferential grooves (70), - a sliding contact spring (72) is present in each of the grooves (70), - the second body (66) can be pushed onto the first body (52) and driven to rotate around the first body (52), - each sliding contact spring (72) can be brought into electrical contact with a slip ring (54), - the contact between the sliding contact springs (72) and the slip rings (54) is force-fitting and/or form-fitting such that a relatively firm mutual hold can be established between the two bodies (52, 66). 02) Electrical plug connection according to claim 1, characterized in that - the sliding contact springs (72) are arranged eccentrically to the slip rings (54) so that they only touch the slip rings (54) in places. FÖPE-02gDE &idigr; .'<!!·'< *·.&idigr; ·* 02 July 1997 ·*··»#· «* · *· · -2- 03) Electrical plug connection according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that - the sliding contact spring is seated in a locking annular groove which is present on the outside circumference of a slip ring. 04) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the slip rings have a rectangular cross-section with an annular groove in their outer side, - the annular groove is designed to accommodate a sliding contact spring. 05) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the two open end regions (74, 76) of the sliding contact springs (72) each have a bend (78, 80) with which each sliding contact spring (72) can be placed on a slip ring (54). 06) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the first rod-shaped body (52) is fixedly attached to a base (18) in a cantilevered manner, - in the base (18) there is a first electric motor (Ml) for the rotation adjustment of the second body (66), - the second body (66) is operatively connected to the first motor (Ml). FÖPE-02gDE · .·* · * · J* · "*·· J* 02. July 1997 ...·.·. ... ·« . -3- 07) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that - a shaft (88) is rotatably provided within the first body (52), - the shaft (88) is connected in a rotationally fixed manner on the one hand to the motor shaft of the first motor (Ml) and on the other hand to the second body (66). 08) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that - the second body (66) is connected to the first motor (Ml) in a rotationally fixed manner via an external gear transmission (112, 114). 09) Electrical plug connection according to claim 1, characterized in that - at least one electrical consumer (Ml, 32) such as a camera (32) is attached to the second body (66), - a line connection (92, 94) is present between sliding contacts (54) and the at least one electrical consumer (Ml, 32). 10) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the electrical consumer (Ml, 32) is tiltably mounted on the second body (66). FÖPE-02gDE
02 July 1997 -4- 11) Electrical plug connection according to claim 10, characterized in that - a second motor (M2) is firmly attached to the second body (66) as a consumer, - the second motor (M2) is connected via a connecting line (92) to a first group of sliding contacts (54), - another electrical consumer (32) is tiltably mounted on the second motor (M2), - this further consumer (32) is connected to a second group of sliding contacts (54) via a connecting line. 12) Electrical connector according to claim 11, characterized in that - a camera (32) is provided on the second body (66) as a further electrical consumer. 13) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the two motors (Ml, M2) and the two bodies (52, 66) together with the electrical consumer (32) are surrounded by a housing (12). 14) Electrical plug connection according to claim 13, characterized in that - the housing (12) is optically transparent for the camera (32) in the surface areas that lie in extension of the optical axis of the camera (32). 15) Electrical plug connection according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that - the housing (12) contains a spherical or pear-shaped glass body (14) fastened in a base (18). FÖPE-02gDE · ..·* · · · ·* · '«· ·' 02 July 1997 ·*· * * " * &mdash;5 &mdash; 16) Electrical connector according to one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that - the housing (12) is waterproof. 05 17) Electrical connector according to one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that - the glass body (14) has a maximum diameter of approximately 80 mm (millimeters). 18) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - in the housing (12) or in the base (18) a loudspeaker (120) and/or a microphone (122) are present. 19) Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - at least one sensor (13 0) is present in the housing (12) or in the base (18). 20) Electrical plug connection according to claim 19, characterized in that - the sensor (13 0) is designed to receive optical and/or acoustic environmental stimulus signals. 21) Electrical plug connection according to claim 20, characterized in that - the camera (32) can be switched on by the sensor (130). FÖPE-02gDE \ .·* . \ ; ; ^# . *«; j* 02. July 1997 .····*. ·. « .. « -6- 22) Electrical connector according to one of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that - several sensors are distributed in such a way that the 05 camera {32} can be aligned in the direction of the stimuli recorded by the sensors.